Pike Creek Double Barrel Whisky Doubles Down on Sweetness

I am loath to write a negative review of a novel Canadian whisky at least trying to break the stereotype of Canadian whiskies being universally bland and relegated to ginger ale-based beverages. So I hope you all appreciate how it pains me to say Pike Creek Double Barrel 10 Year Whisky just isn’t for me.

Now, that’s not to say it’s abjectly horrible. Rather, what it does just doesn’t work with how I like my whisky. It might have it’s place in your cabinet, however. Let me explain:

Pike Creek Whisky Review

So. Let me preface this review by saying Pike Creek looks sexy as hell in the bottle. I commend the marketing department over at Corby (the owners of Pike Creek) for crafting a bottle that looks like a high-end bourbon from the heart of Kentucky. In fact, that was one of the reasons I was initially drawn to it — frivolous as that might sound.

On the nose, Pike Creek begins to show some of its character, and that’s not all good. It has an intensely sweet smell, a bit like over-ripe fruit. There’s a lot of wood character too, but it smells almost medical in its over-sweetness masking the not-insignificant alcohol fumes.

The taste is interesting, but an overall miss for me. The first and most profound flavour I noticed was unabashed, unreserved maple syrup. I actually checked the bottle to see if it was listed as an ingredient (and as far as I can tell, it’s not.) This syrupy sweetness was overpowering at first and forced me to swallow a little harder than i normally do. As I continued sipping, it did grow on me a bit, but seemed to lack the complexity of better whiskies.

Now, there was some decent other flavours including cloves and black pepper, but they were crushed by the heavy sweetness. The finish was long, but not my speed. The first thing I thought was this might be a good transition dram for brandy drinkers looking to break into whisky. But for those accustomed to spicy ryes and bold bourbons, Pike Creek fails to impress.

***

It’s not for me. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that there are better Canadian whiskies in the price range. But perhaps it’s worth checking out if you like sweet booze, or make sweet cocktails. But for drinking neat, this isn’t a dram I’ll be sipping slow anytime soon.